Witchcraft (Short Story)
Skreeeeeechk. Skreeeeeeechk.
Janine hated the noise her marker made when she dragged it across the paper. But it was impossible to escape it. Not with her job.
Skreeeeeeck.
”How many more of these are there?” Rio asked. ”Can we go home soon?” Wordlessly, Janine pointed at the big pile of books on her desk. They were stacked right next to her nameplate.
Janine Evergreen, Expurgator
It read. Every time she saw it, she had to roll her eyes. Expurgate was just a fancy word for censor. But they couldn’t write that on her nameplate, because then it might cause people to ask questions. Nobody likes censorship. Barely anyone cares about expurgating.
Words. Words had power. Janine knew that maybe better than most people.
”I don’t want to wait till you’ve blacked out all sensitive words in these books. I want to go hooooome. I think I smelled a mouse in your bedroom yesterday. I want to hunt it.”
”Why didn’t you catch it yesterday then? What kind of useless cat are you, Rio?” Rio stood up and stretched like cats do.
”I’m not useless. I wanted to wait and see if there are other mice too. If I eat one, the others might be too scared to show themselves. And aside from that, it’s not my job to keep your house pest-free! I’m a familiar, not your pet!”
”Aren’t familiars supposed to be useful? Provide spiritual guidance or something like that?”
”Yes!”
”So what do I need spiritual guidance for?”
”You’re a witch!”
”So is everybody else.” She turned back to her books while Rio sat down next to her, his tail twitching from one side to the other. Janine knew that Rio knew that she was right. But it didn’t make either of them happy. @suesa
Hundreds of years ago, magic didn’t exist in the world. There were stories, but most people believed they were fake. And then many things happened. The world almost got destroyed and magic resurfaced. Bit by bit, it spread around the globe until everyone possessed magical powers of one kind or another. And it never went away again.
The problem with special powers is that, as soon as everyone has them, they’re not special anymore. Bit by bit, people have to take on ordinary jobs again. It’s just the type of job that changes.
Everyone had been convinced that technology would change people’s lives, nobody expected magic to do it.
And it wasn’t just the jobs it had influenced. Politics changed a lot too, as it usually does after a catastrophe. With billions of powerful magic users, there needed to be new rules. And out of the ashes of destruction and anarchy rose …
An oligarchy of the strong.
Not everyone had the same degree of power. Some were more gifted while others could barely lift a feather with their mind. Those who could destroy whole cities with just a thought were the ones who placed themselves in the positions of rulers. The others had two choices: Accept it or die.
The population dropped a bit, during the time of change.
But this too had been a while ago. Janine hadn’t even been alive yet. She had just heard the stories read the books. And then censored the books so that nobody could prove that the leaders were telling lies.
”Why can’t you just use your magic to remove all the bad words and then go home”, Rio complained.
”We’ve been over this. Magic can be reversed. This marker, on the other hand, is permanent. Look, it even says so on its casing.”
Several hours later, Janine had finally filled her quota for the day and was able to go home.
”Can we do some cool spiritual journey?” Rio asked while he tried to keep up with Janine’s big steps. ”Pretty please? We haven’t done it in a while!”
The witch wanted to say no. She felt tired and emotionally drained. A spiritual journey was almost the opposite of what she needed. But when she looked at Rio, she just couldn’t say no. It wasn’t his fault that he had been bonded with her. He had just been unlucky enough to be born the same minute as her and then assigned as a familiar for life. Which, in his case, would be exactly as long as Janine’s.
”Alright, but only a short one.”
”Yessss!” His ears perked up and his steps became more energetic. He loved trips to the spiritual realm.
Back at home, Janine lit some scented candles. Technically, those weren’t necessary, but she liked the atmosphere they created. Today, she had chosen one that was labeled “ocean breeze”. It smelled like salt and sand.
”Are you ready?” Rio asked.
”Sure, why not.” Janine closed her eyes and let her soul leave her body. It attached itself to Rio, who jumped and then …
She was underwater. The cold, blue ocean was calm around her. It was dark. She couldn’t move, but it was fine. She didn’t need to move. Water was flowing through her pores.
”You’re a sponge”, she heard Rio’s voice. Well, she didn’t really hear, she had no ears. But she knew Rio said it.
Janine tried to find out what she could do in this form. After a bit of experimenting, she was able to move something. Her flagella, as Rio told her. They increased the flow of water. She felt the oxygen flowing through her body, along with … food? Bacteria!
Normally, she would have been disgusted by the sheer amount of bacteria passing through her body. But right now, right here, it was great. It was the way a sponge lived. So calm …
She didn’t know how much time had passed when Rio led her soul back to her original body, but the candles had burnt down and the wax had solidified. Janine touched it. It was cold.
”That was weird”, she said.
”I’m sorry”, Rio replied. ”I didn’t want to disturb you. I just thought it might be nice to get away from everything for a bit. To have some peace …”
”It was nice. And you’re right, I needed a calm place.”
She picked Rio up and cuddled him. Life sucked, but at least she had someone to rely on.
This weird story was brought to you based on three keywords I have been given: solidify (by @calumam ), sponge (by @sykochica ), expurgate (by @geekpowered ). The universe this plays in is loosely based on @apsu ‘s current storyline which is very intriguing and you should totally check it out.
Picture taken from pixabay.com
The story was a delight as always, very different what you've written before. I grinned at this:
Even though it's kind of clear that in many fantasy worlds magic is something common and everyday for the people living in the fictional world - but it is rarely pointed out that magic is not actually special at all if anyone can do it.
Magic would be as amazing as being able to putting your pants on.
The story was a delight, I hope this will stay as a single post and you don't need to continue on the story as it's perfect as it is :)
You're afraid for your world :)
I agree with you @apsu if it is really spectacular, the story is well done, there is no need to continue it so perfect @, congratulations @suesa
steemit is awesome am loving it
Great story :)
I love the way you write :)
And magical subjects are so rewarding when it comes to imagination :)
Keep it up!
I always believe that magic is science and that every human has special power. All we need is to remember them or learn them.
A very nice story, I enjoyed reading it :) Keep it up!
Wow great story @suesa! I've been meaning to write some fantasy myself. I need to get on it lol.
I liked the backstory given about the return of magic to the world and how everyone could do it to one degree or another. It would make defeating the most powerful magic users nearly impossible without inside help.
Simply loved it! Steemit is becoming my favorite place to read bedtime fiction.
Good to hear :) If you want a metric ton of finished fiction stories, check out the link in my profile. I created a google drive with my finished stories in PDF form.
Sure I would love to :)
Love it, love it, looove it!
It was a long time since I last felt something while reading about it.
Being a sponge in a sea or an ocean rules!
Oh, and, uhh, I've always loved stories about magic.
Not your usual storytelling theme, however, I enjoyed it. You are very good with detail and conveying exactly what you mean.
Thank you,
Spencer Coffman
Nice story, altho I felt like this was an introduction to upcoming events.
I have to admit I also like getting away from the real life and be a sponge for a while, or a bread maybe, like @apsu.
I bet Rio has an abnormally wide jaw, with extra sharp teeth.
Rio is a magical cat, he can have as many sharp teeth as he wants
Nice story. But it almost seems like it's unfinished. Like this is only Part 1.
I hate you sometimes xD
I really got upset ! you made me sad ! and never forget this action of you! you are a writer and this action is disrespect for your readers! what a pity that I've spent my time to translate your story into my language to underestand it... i usually upped a few percent posts in steemit to keep my votting power but cause i like your story upped you 25 percent of my vote... but you downvote me just cause you are 70!! it's a bad action actually when a writer or a poet do this! by the way i never forget this... in our world there is the same from powerful people to weak people to do what ever they want !!! even without any right ! In the end let me tell you read one of my poems.. i didn't send it's link cause sending link is against the rules i don't want do any spam, but send a shot from it to you just can read it
good luck @suesa ....
I flagged you down to the equivalent of a 25% vote of yourself. It's really bad taste to upvote your own comment 100% while you upvote the post itself with 25%. I just made it equal.
lots of people and powerful people upvote ownself in their comments 100% .. do you ever down vote them?? and ... i upped others a few percent 2, 3,5 ,,, but upped you 25 percents of mine !! by the way its not important , but i tell you this is bad for a writer .. all the people must do kindness with each other ! we are here to learn a lot of thing from each other !
Yes, I downvote them too if they do this. And I upvote those who don't upvote themselves. I am not against selfvotes per se, but I disapprove if upvoting your own comment more than the post. I flagged you with 4% and left you 6 cents, more than you gave me. I could have flagged you a lot more if I wanted to. But I didn't want that.
ok... come on ... i want to forget this at all.. good luck
I was about to say "I don't hold a grudge" and then saw that you upvoted your own comment with 100% again. Are you serious?
no , i think you don't care enough :) i upped your comment 100% power ,, not mine! and again i upped your comment 100% power not mine! be happy dear , good luck
Sure...
Anyway. You can think what you want, I know I care a lot. I just gave away 2000 SP in delegation to deserving minnows - for free. I upvote comments under my posts I like. I never self-vote. I have a mentorship program where I help people to write better posts.
I just really, really don't like people who comment something absolutely generic and reward themselves for it with more than they reward the post.